Not even bad in a good way

Let's be realistic.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Went to the theater with almost no expectations and left with a huge smile on my face. Spinning Plates is an intimate look into the lives of three stories that revolve around food, family, sacrifice, and resilience. Within the stories is a wide variety of food types, chefs, backgrounds, economic means, and ambitions. Yet with all the differences, the similarities are uncanny—and it's what brings the film together. Anyone with an appreciation for food or family will find relatable emotional elements in this film —and it will give you a little more insight on the types of struggles that some of our favorite places to dine go through on a day to day basis. Watch with snacks, plan for a meal afterward. Enjoy!

I saw this movie recently at a screening and it is one heck of a good film. This is what a good documentary looks like! The movie looks at three different stories from across the country - varied food, cultures and ethnicities. Each story was completely engaging and when they're all wrapped together it makes for an incredibly enticing movie. So enjoyable...the fact that it's subject involves delicious food doesn't hurt either. Also, don't be fooled into thinking a movie about food doesn't have drama - because this movie swings back and forth between tragedy and triumph. The movie is really about the people making the food - and, let me tell you, they've got some stories to tell.I really dig this movie.

Spinning Plates is a documentary on three different restaurants and their owners/cooks. We inter-cut between one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, a Mexican restaurant on the verge of going out of business, and an extremely popular small town restaurant. We meet all the owners and see how much their restaurant means to them.Each of the three stories are unique and compelling. There is a wide arrange of emotions portrayed and felt. There is nothing being pushed on the audience, no politics, or biases. The film just takes you behind the scenes to show you how the restaurants are run and why. Through interviews, you get to see the heart, dedication, and passion of the owners.This documentary seriously changed my view on cooks and restaurant owners. I can now appreciate high quality meals as art. And I recognize the passion and hard-work that goes into these kinds of businesses. By the end of the film you see a common theme of love and companionship for each restaurant.I highly recommend this documentary to everyone. I cannot imagine somebody not liking this.

Spinning Plates is a documentary film directed by Joseph Levy. It centers on three restaurants, each one unique not only for its cuisine, but also its owners and their turmoil. Levy introduces us to Chef Grant Achatz and his Michelin three-star rated restaurant Alinea in Chicago. It is followed by the Martinez's struggling Tuscon Mexican restaurant La Cocina de Gabby. Finally, we have the Breitbachs and their restaurant Breitbach's Country Dining, which has been around Baltown, Iowa for over 150 years. While these three samples seem random, albeit eclectic, the film's final moment ties everything together into a coherent narrative about food and family. I admire how Levy presents us with three restaurants, each one unique for its economic and social status in the culinary world. The Martinez's restaurant is a struggling familial enterprise. Francisco Martinez is an overly optimistic father, whose only wish is to have his restaurant succeed in order to provide for his daughter. His wife Gabby is the restaurant's sole chef, who beliefs her style of home cooking is what makes her food distinct. However, circumstances arise where they are forced to leave the home Francisco bought for his wife. Out of the three stories in the film, theirs is the most heartbreaking and familiar for it signals not only the economic slide but unearths the realities of the restaurant business. The other family owned restaurant in the film centers on the Breitbachs. Their restaurant is so firmly established in their small town that it has become a cornerstone of the community. Unlike the Martinez's restaurant, it is not economic difficulties that unsettle the family but sheer bad luck. The Breitbach's Country Dining was twice destroyed by fire. Both times the community gathered together to help rebuild it. Their storyline reveals how food is both personal and communal. It looks at how the restaurant transcends business and settles into the realm of a communal relic. In perhaps the most detached of the three, but more engaging, at least for me, is on Chef Grant Achatz and his famed restaurant Alinea. Grant represents the current explosion of high cuisine, where the trend now is the fusion of cooking with science. Where he and his team cook in is a kitchen and a science laboratory hybrid. Pots and pans sit next to Bunsen burners. Before Grant started his own career, he worked under Thomas Keller, who many consider to be one of the greatest chefs. As an avid fan of Mr. Keller, whose laurels extend from his esteemed restaurant The French Laundry all the way to his role as a consultant for Pixar's Ratatouille, I can never tire of listening to his infinite wisdom. Grant is a product of Keller, who focuses on providing not only an artistic and memorable experience, but also, nurturing the customers on a primitive level. While his story seems to be the most artificial, compared to the struggle faced by the Martinez family, Levy flips the script by revealing of Grant's fight against cancer. Levy does a successful job at bringing back his story down to Earth, making him more empathetic. Levy goes a very good job at juggling the difference in class and economic standings with these three restaurants. The ending of the film with Grant's voice-over is a touching ending that ties the themes of the movie together. Despite the difference in social and economic standing, the film purports to say that food and restaurant function similarly. The ending makes you rethink about these three restaurants. It no longer seems like they are just three disparate restaurants but shows the trajectory of how a restaurant can grow on a grassroot level into one that sits atop the culinary world. Spinning Plates is a delightful film for the casual viewer and for food buffs like myself.